DRIVING CHANGE FOR THE GLOBAL FOOTBALL COMMUNITY WITH COMMON GOAL

Today we are announcing a long-term partnership with Common Goal to help drive lasting social change for under-served communities, creating a better and more inclusive future through football.

Based on a shared ambition to maximize football’s contribution towards a more equitable and inclusive world, we have pledged 1% of our global net sales from footballs to Common Goal until 2023.

Common Goal was launched in 2017 when a single player, Juan Mata of Manchester United and Spain, committed to pledge 1% of his salary to a collective fund that invests in high-impact community organizations that use football to empower young people. The collective has grown to almost 200 players and managers, including Serge Gnabry, Pernille Harder, Paulo Dybala, Timo Werner, Casey Stoney MBE and Jurgen Klopp. To date, over €3M has been generated by the movement and invested in football-based charities that support the United Nations Global Goals.

The organisation will then work with the adidas Football Collective, our purpose platform in football. Together we will use the game to support and grow football communities around the world and accelerate – and measure – a promise to fight racism and discrimination, power gender equality, foster mental well-being and promote LGBTQ+ inclusion.

This partnership with adidas represents a shift in the football industry. Social impact has moved to a high priority for football stakeholders.

adidas has shown its leadership in investing in Common Goal and together we can scale and accelerate football’s contribution towards the Global Goals. We believe that anything is possible if we work together as one team.

Jürgen Griesbeck, CEO and co-founder of Common Goal

In the initial three-year period of the partnership, together with Common Goal we will support grassroots community organizations across the globe, via a network of 140 high-impact football NGO’s in 90 countries. The aim is to directly impact 90,000 lives through a series of projects and strategic focuses concentrated on removing inequality, improving access, and working towards greater gender parity. These projects include:

• Global Goal 5 Accelerator: Creating a world where every girl has the opportunity to develop her full potential
• Anti-Racist Project: To end racism in football: on the field, on the sidelines, in the front office and across our communities
• Play Proud: Making grassroots football organisations, programmes, and communities around the world inclusive for LGBTQ+ communities.
• Global Goal 16 Impact: Empowering young people to shape their communities and play a key role in creating peaceful and inclusive societies.

At adidas, we are committed to creating change through football. We cannot do this alone, however, and therefore look to individuals and organizations with a shared commitment to action, such as Common Goal.

This is a team effort, and it was important to announce this partnership and our ambitions for it during the most collaborative and inclusive football tournament in European history. This is just the start.

Gonzalo Calvo, Director for Communities and Culture at adidas

We have also committed significant resources to storytelling and content production that will bring to life the social impact of the partnership, alongside a strategic investment that will allow adidas to support Common Goal’s greater ambition to positively change 100 million young lives by 2030, amplifying its work through the brand’s global footprint.

I’ve been a part of the adidas family for many years and with Common Goal from the very beginning, so this collaboration is very special. This partnership will help us to use football as a force for good and come together to try and tackle social issues as one. This is really only the start.

For me, team play is the most important thing and through solidarity, empathy and effort, I believe that anyone can reach their goals. Our ambition is to make Common Goal the biggest football club in the world, where everyone is welcome.

Juan Mata, Manchester United Player and Co-Founder of Common Goal

This partnership announcement is the final chapter in our UEFA EURO 2020^TM campaign and long-term commitment to inspiring a movement of people to see – and push towards – a more positive and inclusive world through sport.

To join us and Common Goal at the starting line, fans can purchase a football at www.adidas.co.uk/balls for their 1% to be contributed toward social change causes.